Intentions to Marry, 1914 Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840456, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1914 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki (1914a), Wellington, Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1914b), and Canterbury, Otago, Southland, Chatham Islands (1914c).

Page 2097

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 30 June 1914

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

248

6 April 1914

James Wilfred Swaney
Violet Perry

James Wilfred Swaney
Violet Perry
💍 1914/9588

Bachelor
Spinster

Engineer
Dressmaker

25
23

Addington
Addington

5 days
19 years

St. Andrew's Church Christchurch

4231

6 April 1914

Rev. J. Mackenzie

No	248
Date of Notice	6 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	James Wilfred Swaney	Violet Perry
	💍 1914/9588
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Engineer	Dressmaker
Age	25	23
Dwelling Place	Addington	Addington
Length of Residence	5 days	19 years
Marriage Place	St. Andrew's Church Christchurch
Folio	4231
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Mackenzie

249

6 April 1914

Henry Victor Lane
Elizabeth Ann Kimber

Henry Victor Lane
Elizabeth Ann Kimber
💍 1914/5957

Bachelor
Spinster

Ironmoulder

24
26

Spreydon
Riccarton

10 years
5 years

Anglican Mission Church Riccarton

3518

6 April 1914

Rev. G. W. Christian

No	249
Date of Notice	6 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Victor Lane	Elizabeth Ann Kimber
	💍 1914/5957
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Ironmoulder
Age	24	26
Dwelling Place	Spreydon	Riccarton
Length of Residence	10 years	5 years
Marriage Place	Anglican Mission Church Riccarton
Folio	3518
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. G. W. Christian

250

6 April 1914

Robert Wilson Campbell
Ellen Parker

Robert Wilson Campbell
Ellen Parker
💍 1914/5937

Bachelor
Spinster

Compositor
Tailoress

42
31

Christchurch
Dunedin

3 months
15 months

Registrar's Office Christchurch

3422

6 April 1914

Registrar

No	250
Date of Notice	6 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert Wilson Campbell	Ellen Parker
	💍 1914/5937
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Compositor	Tailoress
Age	42	31
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Dunedin
Length of Residence	3 months	15 months
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office Christchurch
Folio	3422
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Registrar

251

6 April 1914

Samuel Levick Dettmer
Catherine Victoria Brady

Samuel Levick Dettmer
Catherine Victoria Brady
💍 1914/6035

Bachelor
Spinster

Pianoforte Tuner
Machinist

22
26

Richmond
Christchurch

7 years
12 years

St. John's Church Christchurch

3578

6 April 1914

Rev. P. J. Cocks

No	251
Date of Notice	6 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Levick Dettmer	Catherine Victoria Brady
	💍 1914/6035
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Pianoforte Tuner	Machinist
Age	22	26
Dwelling Place	Richmond	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	12 years
Marriage Place	St. John's Church Christchurch
Folio	3578
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. J. Cocks

252

6 April 1914

Thomas Edward Fancy
Rae Beatrice Louise Lampon

Thomas Edward Fancy
Rose Beatrice Louise Lampon
💍 1914/9397

Bachelor
Spinster

Printer

24
24

Sydenham
Sydenham

2 years
18 months

House of Rev. J. Cocker, Durham St. Christchurch

4491

6 April 1914

Rev. J. Cocker

No	252
Date of Notice	6 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Thomas Edward Fancy	Rae Beatrice Louise Lampon
BDM Match (96%)	Thomas Edward Fancy	Rose Beatrice Louise Lampon
	💍 1914/9397
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Printer
Age	24	24
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	2 years	18 months
Marriage Place	House of Rev. J. Cocker, Durham St. Christchurch
Folio	4491
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. Cocker

253

6 April 1914

Samuel Loader
Elizabeth Stevens

Samuel Loader
Elizabeth Stevens
💍 1914/5930

Bachelor
Spinster

Shepherd

26
36

Linwood
Linwood

5 days
4 months

St. David's Church Sydenham

3416

6 April 1914

Rev. C. Murray

No	253
Date of Notice	6 April 1914
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Samuel Loader	Elizabeth Stevens
	💍 1914/5930
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Shepherd
Age	26	36
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Linwood
Length of Residence	5 days	4 months
Marriage Place	St. David's Church Sydenham
Folio	3416
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 April 1914
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. Murray

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).